Register reset



April 21, 1942. w, R SENBERGER 2,280,161

REGISTER RESET Filed March 29, 1940 INVENTOR Geoz ge 22905677561 Patented Apr. 21, 1942 REGISTER RESET George W. Rosenberger, Bloomfield, N. J assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application March 29, 1940, Serial No. 326,700

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to an instrument reset, and it has particular relationship to a novel reset arrangement for increasing the accuracy of demand type registers.

A cumulative demand type register to which the invention may be applied is disclosed in copending United States Patent application Serial No. 217,024, filed July 1, 1938, by Robert H. Lewis and Paul G. Adams. This application has issued as Patent No. 2,259,314. In this construction, a timing motor controls the connection of a pusher arm to the watthour meter for a predetermined demand period. At the end of this period the motor acts to release the pusher for an instant and permit a biasing spring to return it to its initial position against a solid stop. This cycle is repeated causing the register to operate on the block interval principle. An indicating arm is arranged to be pushed by the pusher arm so that its position is a measure of the maximum demand which has occurred dur- ;ing any demand interval since the last resetting.

At the end of the month or other metering period the indication of the displacement of .the indicating arm is transferred to a set of cumulative registers and the arm returned to .its starting position. .operation the motor is connected to drive the .indicating arm and register to perform this re- .setting operation. A latch device is employed to .retain the motor in connected position until actuated by the indicating arm upon its reaching By means of a manual a predetermined position such as zero. In order to reset the indicating and pushing arms to their predetermined starting positions against the solid stop, it is necessary that the latch be actuated just before the stop is reached.

All registers of the block interval type, however, inherently indicate or integrate low values because of the time required for returning the pusher to zero at the end of the interval. If a time interval of thirty minutes is used as the demand interval the pusher arm of the above described apparatus is released at the end of each thirty minute period, and a time of perhaps two seconds is required for the arm to return to its errors in such instruments which it is also desirable to eliminate.

instead of the fixed one described above.

It will be evident that because of the fixed position of the stop in the apparatus of the aforesaid patent application, it is impossible to regulate the time at which the cumulative register is disconnected from the motor in order to compensate for these errors. According to the present invention, a resilient stop is employed This resilient member permits the indicating arm to be driven past its initial or zero position during the resetting operation while allowing its indicating displacement to start at the same point for each cycle. Since the cumulative register is driven simultaneously with the indicating arm, it is thus possible to compensate for the aforementioned errors by lengthening the resetting distance.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a novel instrument resetting means.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel resilient stop for use with instrument resetting arrangements.

A further object of the invention is to provide a resilient stop for use with a cumulative demand watthour meter register to improve its accuracy.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cumulative demand register to which the invention may be applied.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the portion of the apparatus of Fig. 1 illustrating the invention, and

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the portion of the structure shown in Fig. 2 in assembled position.

Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, a register of the type disclosed in the aforesaid United States patent application Serial No. 217,024 is shown. For convenience, the parts shown in Fig, 1 which correspond to those disclosed in the aforesaid patent application are provided with the same reference numbers. Briefly, the register illustrated includes a disk 2 of an induction watthour meter which drives indicating pointers 8 through a shaft 3, worm gear and worm wheel 5 and a suitable gear train 6. The indicating pointers 8 may be employed for indicating kilowatt hours when dials are formed on a face plate H1 in a customary manner.

To indicate the maximum demand for any billing period, a pusher arm 20 is attached to a sleeve 22 which is periodically rotated. The sleeve 22 and a gear 24 are mounted on a shaft 25 and constitute parts of a releasable clutch. The gear 24 is driven from the disk 2 through suitable gearing. At periodic intervals, for example, every thirty minutes, the clutch is released to free the sleeve 22 which is returned to an initial or zero setting by means of a spiral spring 253 which has one end attached to the sleeve 22 and the other end attached to a stationary part of the register. Consequently, the maximum rotation of the sleeve 22 and the push or arm 29 carried thereby represents the maximum demand for any thirty minute period. Of course demand intervals of other than thirty minutes may be chosen as desired, in accordance with usual practice.

The clutch connecting the arm 23 to the meter 3 is released by means of a lever M which is actuated by means of a cam ti l driven through suitable gearing by constant speed motor 50.

To preserve an indication of the maximum position to which the arm 2i? is rotated in a thirty-minute interval, a sleeve Hit is mounted to rotate freely on the shaft 25 in coaxial alignment with the sleeve The sleeve hill carries an arm Nil provided with a pin Hi2 in the path of movement of the pusher arm 25. As the pusher arm rotates it engages the pin iii-2 and carries the sleeve mil with it. The sleeve liiil is arranged so that it and the arm [iii are frictionally retained in the position corresponding to the maximum displacement of the pusher arm 20 during any demand interval.

A set of registering dials 186 is mounted on the panel IB and connected through suitable gearing to a gear H5 while the sleeve ltd is connected to another gear HS disposed adjacent to gear H5 but ordinarily free to rotate independently thereof. In order to reset the indicating arm Ill! and transfer its reading to the register Hit, a plunger 25% actuated. This causes a pinion M9 to interconnect the gears H3 and H5 and also connects a crown gear lit to the gearing between the indicating arm and cumulative register. These driving connections are controlled by a lever i229 which is retained in position by means of a latch device i523. This latch device is positioned to be operated by the arm l'fili when it is driven to a predetermined position to disconnect the driving motor as well as the pinion H 9. Further details of the construction thus far described Will be found by reference to the aforementioned copending application.

According to the invention, a resilient spring member 2%! is attached to a stationary portion of the instrument indicated at 2% (Figs. 2 and 3). This resilient member is shown in the form of a U-shaped spring having an adjusting bolt 2B5 connecting the opposing arms. A projecting portion on the pusher arm Zil is arranged to contact the upper arm of the spring when in its initial or starting position. The tension of the spring 2c: will ordinarily be made such that it will support the arm 2E and not be deformed by the spiral spring 28. Upon the arm HM being driven backwards during the resetting operation it pushes the arm All ahead of it and into contact with the spring. The force of the motor, however, will act to compress the resilient stop, and the location of the lever I29 and the latch I58 may be made such. that the connection is not released until after such compression.

Upon therelease of the motor, however, the

spring 25H will force the pusher-arm 20 and consequently the indicating arm IUI back to their starting positions. In this manner the two arms may be made to start their indication from exactly the same position in each time interval while the cumulative demand register is actually driven to an indication exceeding the actual displacement of the maximum demand indicating arm I511. The amount of this excess travel may be adjusted to exactly compensate for the resetting time or other errors by controlling the position of the spring through the member 265.

Although a U-shaped spring member has been employed in the drawing, it will be evident that other resilient constructions may be used to accomplish similar results. It will also appear that various other modifications may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which consequently is to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an instrument, a member mounted for movement in one direction and means for frictionally retaining it in a position to which it is moved, motive means for moving said member in the reverse direction against said retaining means, means for maintaining said motive means operatively connected to said member, said last named means being positioned for operation by said member when it reaches a predetermined position for releasing said motive means, and resilient means for engaging said member to insure its stopping at a predetermined position upon the release of said motive means.

2. In an instrument including an arm, means for pivotally mounting said arm free to move in one direction away from a predetermined starting position, motive means for driving said arm in the reverse direction, a latch device for maintaining said motive means operatively connected to said arm, means for mounting said latch device for operation by said arm when the arm reaches a predetermined position past said starting position to release said motive means, and resilient means for returning said arm to said starting position upon th release of said motive means.

3. In an instrument including an arm, pivot means for mounting said arm free to move away from a predetermined starting point in one diection in accordance with a variable quantity, indicating means, motive means for driving said arm in the reverse direction and driving said indicating means in proportion to the reverse movement of said arm, a latch device for maintaining said motive means operatively connected to said arm and said indicating means, means for mounting said latch device for operation by said arm when it reaches a predetermined position past said starting position to release said motive means, and resilient means for engaging said arm and returning it to said starting position upon the release of said motive means.

l. In an instrument, a first arm and means for mounting it to rotate in one direction from a predetermined starting position in accordance with a variable quantity, a second arm and means for mounting it free to rotate about the axis as said first arm in the same said direction, said second arm having a predetermined starting posit on in contact with said first arm in its said starting position, .means on one of said arms for transmitting motion of said first arm in the same said direction to said second arm for transmitting motion of said second arm in the reverse direction to said first arm, means for driving said second arm in said reverse direction, control means for maintaining said driving means in operation, means for mounting said control means for operation by said second arm when it reaches a position past its said starting position to release said driving means, and. a resilient stop member for engaging said first arm when it reaches substantially its said starting position and for returning said arms to their said starting positions upon the release of said driving means.

5. In an instrument including a first arm, means for mounting said arm to rotate in a first direction from a predetermined starting position in accordance with a variable quantity, a second arm and means for mounting it free to rotate about the same axis as said first arm in said first direction, said second arm having a predetermined starting position in contact with said first arm in its said starting position and being capable of remaining in a position to which it is moved, means on one of said arms to cause said first arm to push said second arm when moving in said first direction and to cause said second arm to push said first arm when moving in the reverse direction, registering means, motive means for simultaneously driving said second arm in said reverse direction and said register means to indicate a characteristic of said variable quantity,

and a latch device for maintaining said motive means in operation; means for mounting said latch for operation by said second arm when it reaches a position past said starting position to release said motive means; and an adjustable resilient stop for engaging said first arm when it reaches substantially its said starting position and returning said arms to their said starting positions upon the release of said driving means.

6. In an instrument including an arm, means for mounting said arm for pivotal movement in one direction, said arm being capable of remaining in a position to which it is pivoted, motive means for pivoting said arm in the reverse direction, control means for maintaining said motive means operatively connected to said arm, and means for mounting said control means to be operated by said arm when it reaches a predetermined position for releasing said motive means, a substantially U-shaped spring member, means for attaching a first branch of said spring member to said instrument to dispose the other branch thereof to act on said arm to return it to a second predetermined position upon the release of said motive means, and means for adjusting the position of said other branch of said spring member.

GEORGE W. ROSENBERGER. 

